Method of making substitutes for cork.



UNITED sT'ArrEs PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM SANGER,

OF ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MAKING SUBSTITUTES FOB CORK.

1,101,965. In Drawing.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VVILLIAM Sancnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Substitutes for Cork, of which the following is a specification.

My'invention relates to the methods by which substitutes for cork may produced out of a relatively cheaper material, and has for its object the manufacture of such substitutes for cork, free from all binding materials, in a more expeditious and thorough manner than has heretofore been attained.

It is Well known that the supply of natural cork has been gradually diminishing owing to the-large and increasing demands made for 'Such cork in the natural course of trade and the development ofthe arts, wherein it becomes not only desirable, but essential, to employ substances having the properties of compressibility and resiliency found in the natural cork'.., i

The object of my invention is, among other things, to provide a method by which a i'elativelyipheap substance, as for example,

an ordinary soft wood, such as pine, hemlock and the like, may be so treated that the resulting product may have the desired cork-like qua ities, and I accomplish this result by successively impregnating the fibers of such wood under the action of heat with acid and glycerin solutions 50 that sa the resulting product possesses its original fiber structure to the'extent of being an integral 'mass, yet the wood has the added qualities of being compressible, resilient, and elastic.

I have practised my invention more particularly in the formation of sealing disks for the so-called crown seals largely used for bottle stoppers, wherein there is a hard metal cap for the bottle head; this cap has within its interior top a sealing disk of cork about one-eighth oi an inch in thickness, encircled by the cap which is locked under the shoulders of the bottle head by verticalfiangcs and holds the cap and the cork disk inside the cap in sealing contact with the bottle head.

My improved method may also be used t produce the ordinary form of bottlestopper as well as in other forms as may be required by the needs of the manufacturer and commerce.

Specification of Letters Patent. P t t d June 30, 1 14, Application filed April 26, 1912. Serial at. 693,375.

- 'To illustrate one way in which my improved method may be used, ,I take a sheet or layer of wood, for example, soft pine free from knots Or other imperfections'and of the required thickness for sealing disks as hereinbefore described, and place it in a bath of water heated to a temperature of about 200 degrees Fahrenheit and allow it to remain in this bath from 1 to 2 hours, thereb rendering the wood comparatively soft and pliable and thorou my; cleansed from any dirt whatever. I t en prepare a bath of concentratedhydrochloric acid (HGl) having a specific gravity of about 1.121 and place therein the sheet of wood and then heat the acid bath to a temperature of about 180 degrees Fahrenheit. and allow the wood to remain therein for about 10 minutes. I then raise the temperature of this acid bath to about 210 degrees Fahrenheit and maintain same for about 10 minutes. I then remove the wood from this hydrochloric acid bath and place in a bath of hot water and raise same to the boiling point so as to remove all the acid from the wood so treated and impregnated. This is accomplished in several minutes and when the wood is free from acid I place same in a bath which is composed of glycerin and water, there being about one part by weight of glycerin to three parts'lo WQi 'ht of water. The temperature of this glycerin and water bath is then raised to the looilin point and the wood allowed to remain therein forabout 15 minutes. Finally the wood is taken from the glycerin and water bath and placed in a drying room maintained at a tem erature of about 130 to 140 degrees Fahreniieit for from one-half hour to one hour. The resulting product will then be found to possess all the desired qualities of cork and to bedurable and free from. all impurities or any matter causing an inner decomposition of the product.

According to my tests and observation the action. of the hydrochloric acid is to reof the glycerin and water bath, the proportions of which may be widely varied, prevents the resulting product from becoming too dry and brittle when placed in the 5 drying room which would decrease its compressibility and resiliency when afterward put into actual use. I have also found that the action of the glycerin tends to impart increased elasticity to the wood so treated by the hydrochloric acid and to preserve the wood from decomposition and germs.

The exact nature of the reactions upon the fibrous construction of Wood by the acid and glycerin baths, and their modus 0pera'nrli, I am unable at present to set forth with precision, nor do I deem this requisite to an understanding of mylnvention, the

result of which is to produce a substitute for cork made and treated according to my methods out of the ordinary so-called soft woods'fsuch as pine, hemlock and the'like. i The requisite compressibility and resiliency may be obtained by the use of the hydrochloric acid bath alone, but I have found that the efficiency and durability of the final product is enhanced by using the glycerin and water bath as before described. What I claim as. new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is the following, viz

1. The method of treating wood to produce therefrom a substitute for cork which consists in impregnating thewood with hydrochloric acid, removing all acid from the wood,'t hen impregnating it with a solution ofglycerin and water, and finally drying the resulting product.

2. The method of treating Wood to. pro duce therefrom a substitute for cork which 40 consists in impregnating the Wood with heated hydrochloric acid, removing all acid ter, and finally drying the resulting product,

A. The'method of treating Wood to pro duce therefrom a substitute for cork which consist-sin soaking the wood in hot water,

impregnating it with hydrochloric acidheated-at successively higher temperatures, removing all acid from the wood then boiling it in a solution of glycerin and water and finally drying the resulting product.

,,5. The method of treating wood to produce therefrom a substitute for cork which consists in'soaking the wood it hot water,

impregnating it with concentrated hydrochloric acid heated atsuccessively higher temperatures, removing .all acid from the wood, and boiling same in a solution of glycerin and water, and finally drying the resulting product.

6. The method of producing small sealing disks for crown seals consisting in soaking small wooden disks in, hot water, impreghating the same with concentrated hydrochloric acid heated at successively higher temperatures, removing all acid from the disks, then boiling the same in a solution of glycerin and Water, and finally drying the said disks,

WILLIAM SANGER.

, Vi itnessesr PHILI? C. Puck, GEORGE G. Mmsnuas. 

